NFL unveils new Pro Bowl uniforms

NFL to scrap pink penalty flags after Week 5 confusion

The NFL will continue to wear pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but the pink flags will be scrapped. (Tony Avelar/AP)

After one week of confusion, the NFL has decided to scrap the idea of pink penalty flags -- at least for the time being. NFL spokesman Michael Signora said in a release that while players and coaches will continue to wear pink through Week 7 as part of the league's breast cancer awareness initiative, there was enough confusion about the appearance of the pink flags to justify reconsidering the idea.

Pink flags weren't a league idea in the first place. When 11-year-old Dante Cano from Marlboro, N.J. wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last year, that got the concept started. Cano wrote that " I wanted to know if you could use my idea of pink penalty flags in October for breast cancer awareness," and asked if Goodell could "please write back."

Goodell did, and invited Cano and his family to the Oct. 28 game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium, where the flags were first used.

"Dante had a great idea and I am looking forward to meeting with him on Sunday to put it into action," Goodell said in a statement. "Sometimes the simplest ideas can be the best. I applaud Dante for sending in his recommendation."

The league will continue to use pink coins, equipment, goalpost padding and sideline hats. This is the fifth year in which the league recognized Breast Cancer Awareness Month.